IAF says no need for woman officers, but retains male officers

Defence Minister A K Antony may have assured Parliament on Wednesday that he will “re-examine” the case for granting permanent commission to women officers...

Defence Minister A K Antony may have assured Parliament on Wednesday that he will “re-examine” the case for granting permanent commission to women officers, but the Indian Air Force (IAF) seems to have a contradictory stand on the issue. On one hand, the IAF has refused to grant premature retirement to male officers citing a “severe shortage” of manpower, but in an ongoing court case filed by a lady officer, it has said that there is “no requirement” for granting permanent commission to short service officers who wish to stay on with the Force.

While Brinda Karat, who raised the issue in Parliament, managed to extract a promise from Antony that the “Government will re-examine the position” and will try “to find a solution to the long pending demand”, IAF’s contradicting stance in the Delhi High Court does not provide assurance to lady officers.

In 11 ongoing cases, filed by male officers in the Delhi High Court for grant of premature retirement, the IAF has maintained that the officers cannot be allowed to leave due to “acute shortage” in the force. Latest figures quoted in Parliament put the shortage at 1,368 officers. However, in the case of Wing Commander Anupama Joshi, a serving officer who is pleading to stay on in service on the basis of merit, the IAF has said that it does not have any requirement to grant a permanent commission to short service commission officers.

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While IAF has asserted that there is no gender discrimination involved in the issue as male officers are also being denied permanent commission, what it fails to say is that 179 male SSC officers have been granted permanent commissions. While the rules were changed in 2006 and granting of permanent commissions to SSC officers was stopped, no lady officer was given a permanent commission even though the first batch was inducted in 1993. What has left lady officers disgruntled is that the IAF did not consider any woman for the grant of permanent commission even prior to 2006.

“Male officers inducted in 1993 have been granted permanent commission. However, lady officers from the same batch were initially given five-year extensions and asked to wait for permanent commission. However, this never happened and the rules were changed in 2006,” a source said.

Lady officers in the Armed Forces took their fight for equality to the judiciary last year when the first petition seeking equal treatment in the grant of permanent commission was filed the Delhi High Court in October. The case was filed by Wing Commander Joshi, who is from the first batch of lady officers commissioned in 1993 and is scheduled to retire this year after 15 years of service. A similar case has been filed by a lady Army officer from the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch and a Squadron Leader of the IAF. None of these cases have yet been resolved.

“It is sad that lady officers who have exemplary service records are not being considered for permanent commission when they are as qualified as their male counterparts and after putting in 14 years of work. The irony of the situation is that today, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (the President) is a lady,” said Prashanti Prasad, who is fighting the high court case on behalf of one of the lady officers.